The Triplane/s build thread

[wess]

hi all. looks like very nice template by Rafa L to fix the struts on the sopwith. you might be interested in  the following data that ended up with my sopwith balancing just right.

motor pot50 weight about 35g with 8x4 pot folder

1250 lipo 7.4v weight 54g

2x titch servos about 5g each

gws nano rx 4 about 9g

fly 12a esc very light weight.

all up flying weight of aircraft 244g  8.625oz.

these parts were available to me from a previous plane and alternative cheaper items would probably do providing weight is kept as low as possible.   Can anyone report on their flying experience with this Sopwith?

[Ced]

Before you finish the Tripes, take a look at the new issue with the Walrus. Need some more Depron.

[Rafa L]

SOPWITH- liteply (1/16) firewall for AXI 2204/54

Cheeks,  and lightening holes in B1

[donnie eskew]

TIMBO

HOW DID THE SLIT & GLUE SYSTEM WORK. It works well for me.

Ced

Do you have any new Pic's of the DR1 yet.

Sounds like you guys are realy rock'n & roll'n on these two.

                                                        Donnie

[Tim Mackey]

Hi Donnie...to be truthful, I havent even got around to doing the wings yet - have been a little distracted with other things. Just finished the fus last night, all radio gear in, undercarriage finished, wheels and tyres made up from old mouse mat, battery hatch and fixings etc.....had a bit of fun running it around the lounge floor - pulls a bit to the right ( axle obviously slightly out of alignment ) but ruddder corrects it OK. I havent bothered with the side cheeks

Heres the latest pictures.

I am hoping to get on with the wings tomorrow, following your cut and glue method.

[Rafa L]

Hi Wess,

Cyril's model was 177gr. Yours is a bit heavier, but well powered. Have you flown it? I hope your plane to be a great flyer.  SOPWITH- I made a ply (1/16) frame to reinforce the bottom deprom sheet, just where U/C legs and servo will seat.

[wess]

hi Rafa L. that reinforcing frame looks really good and has the advantage that more space becomes available for the pack which is needed as mine is a bit tight.  u seem to have used depron side cheeks where-as i used 0.8mm here.

i must admit that since xmas the winds here have been too much for this little bird, but i have had a couple of flights and must say i am tickled pink with the performance.  if u have ever flown a gws tiger-moth the SOPWITH flies very much the same. even at the slightly overweight of my model.     hand launch here as the grass is too long but she flies out of the hand with a gentle launch and stooges about with what i think is the right sit namely slightly nose up.      easy turns did not drop a wing and i found the outing rather good.

i am sure u will be pleased when u come to fly your model.  nb i do try very carefully to get the balance point right on the C of G

happy hours

[Murray Moore]

Any Australian reader looking to make either or both the Triplanes and have been unable to locate a suitable sized soft-drink bottle to make the cowls should check out the cleaning section in the local supermarkets.

The l litre size bottles of kerosene, methylated spirits and turpentine is the right diameter and shape. (Of course, the kerosene bottles are coloured blue and might be a bit hard to paint over.)

Coles and Safeway/Woolworths have these bottles under their own house brands as well as by other suppliers. 

Hope this information is helpful.

As for me I am waiting on stocks of 2mm and 3mm Depron to arrive from the Australian agents - some 3,000 kilometres away!

Thanks to all those above who have posted their solutions to construction difficulties. It will come in handy for when I start cutting and gluing.

Murray 

[rathers]

To transfer parts accurately from a plan this might be a helpful tip and much easier than making card templates. 

I usually go to a local print shop and get them to make two or three copies of the plan. I then roughly cut out the shapes slightly oversize and mount them on the depron or balsa using 3M Spray mount. You can the cut round with a sharp knife and get perfect parts. The paper template can then be easily peeled off or, in the case of the Fokker formers for example, left in place to strengthen the depron.

 This also keeps the original plan clean for future use.

[Ced]

donnie eskew; Loaded a pic of my DR1 at its present stage. You will find it in Gallery. I have chosen to model Fok DR1 127/17 ( works No. 1838) of Jasta 11. not certain of the rudder colour, but as it was BvR's mount, I felt it should be red. Still a fair amount of detail to add.

[Tim Mackey]

Wings now done, using slit and glue method, seems to have worked OK although top surface does reflect where the lengthwise cuts were made. This does not bother me unduly, and will have little effect if any on its performance. Just have to decide now on best methosd to ensure they are attached correctly, with correct incidence and dihedral. I am thinking the card jig idea may be best.

Pictures later..... 

[donnie eskew]

Timbo

I am glad that this method worked.

I have never heard of the card jig , could you give me a little more Info or some pic's of

this jig.

Do you know if any of the  guy's are building the Bloody Mary, or are thinking about it.

I think I have all the plans for her now. If anyone has any input or some info it would be great.

Thank Donnie

[Tim Mackey]

Hi Donnie the jig was shown on another thread here somewhere by some other clever boffin...whos name escapes me, but I shall find it.

here we go.... CED sorry [img]/forum/smilies/sad_smiley.gif[/img]

[donnie eskew]

Thanks Timbo

I have seen this before, I must have had a blond moment.

Donnie

[Ced]

I don't think the spanwise slits are necessary or were even intended by Cyril. The Depron sheet has a natural tendency to bend in one direction. ( usually along the width rather than the length.) So the wings are cut out ACROSS the sheet, not ALONG the sheet. Cyril doesn't show us how the curve is induced, but there are some intriguing photographs in the new Walrus build in the Gallery. The pictures are by RCM&E and, typically, there is no explanation. ( Moan. Moan...) I found that gently rolling each wing over the radiused edge of a table, produced a curve very like that shown in Cyril's plan, and the form has stayed. Always bearing in mind, that a lot of Depron models have just flat sheet wings.

[Tim Mackey]

Well I have done mine now, and have no more depron left. They seem to have come out fine,albeit with a bit more curvature than some of the photos I have seen. I am not too worried about this, as I reckon it will merely provide a better airfoil /lift shape. I filled in any remaining evidence of the spanwise slits with some superlight filler ( spackle as the yanks call it ) Pictures below.

I am just working on the tail rigging now - not easy especially with my less than nimble fingers

Then I have to tackle the fitting of the wings to fus, and rigging those. NOT looking forward to it I must say, as I still haven't really deciphered the method for ensuring symmetry, dihedral and incidence angles. Anymore photos or info on how the Jig idea was used to alighn things up, or am I just being too fussy, and should just get on and stick them on using my pretty accurate eyeballing method ?

[donnie eskew]

 Timbo

I think you did a great job,the wings look very good.

The little over curve should give better lift.

A little sand paper, spackle,and paint will do wonders with foam.

How are you going to make that card jig, and out of what material.

Just wanted to compare your's to what I am thinking about and find the easiest way

to git-r-done.

Keep up the good work.                                       Donnie

[Tim Mackey]

Hi Donnie, decided the jig was going to be more work than the job of fitting them ! Lazy me therefore has gone ahead and used the old " eyeball it " method. All now loosely test fitted with cocktail sticks, and tomorrow I will do the interplane struts and then tackle the rigging before gluing with PU gorilla.

Incidentally, I found the top wing centre section was a mile too small in width on the plan.

I have used 6mm on top wing ( as I reckon this will be the handle ) and 3mm for the others.

Will post pictures of todays work later tonight ( been flying too ) so not a lot of progress - I am slow builder anyway

[Tim Mackey]

[Rafa L]

Hi pals: Nice to know that Wess' plane is such a good flyer. I hope the mine will be too. Now I'm working on the U/C and wheels of the Triple. For the U/C's axle I used 1,5 mm CF rod. By the way, can anyone tell me how much is 20 SWG in metric?… or …Where can I find a SWG / metric conversion table? 

I used sewing thread to reinforce the U/C legs' junction.

  

For the wheels I used 50x3 mm O-rings and the hub is a sandwich ply(1/16) + deprom(1,5mm- 3mm sanded-) + ply.

[Bruce Richards]

Just ask Google

[p]<a href="http://www.simetric.co.uk/siwire_elect.htm]Or Here

Bruce

[Bruce Richards]

Sorry I tryed to edit that post and it got screwed up

Click Here for SWG to mm

Bruce 

[Tim Mackey]

lookin nice Rafa

[wess]

hi  Timbo and Rafa..  v/nice pics and the build quality looks superb. best looking wheels i have seen yet and complete with tires! er' tyres.

looks like u are making a spare for those bumpy landings.

[Tim Mackey]

Progress has been slow due to laziness and good sloping weather . However, heres the story so far..... just the rudder to paint, and then wings to finally tackle attachment and rigging. I will probably test fly her before I bother with the dummy radial engine and pilot, but if she is sweet, then I shall definately be doing both engine and pilot. I HATE empty cockpits.